MOSCOW, November 8 (RAPSI) – Russian investigators have charged two Ukrainian officers with organization of using prohibited means and methods of war in Donbas region in absentia, Investigative Committee acting spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told journalists on Tuesday.

Earlier, Russian investigators basing on the collected evidence initiated criminal cases against several Ukrainian officers allegedly involved in shelling of civilian facilities and residential areas in Eastern Ukraine in March 2016.

According to investigation, on March 15 and 16, 2016, officers of the 72nd and 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigades and their subordinates deliberately opened artillery fire on Yasinovataya and Staromikhailovka settlements in the Donetsk region of Ukraine damaging local civilian facilities and houses. On March 16, in yet another incident servicemen of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade bombarded a house located near the town of Gorlovka, as a result harm was caused to two local residents. On March 24 and 28, 2016, a local resident was wounded and several houses were demolished after two districts of the city of Donetsk had been chosen as an aim for the artillery of the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade.  

Besides, a criminal case was opened over the shelling of houses in the town of Makeyevka by heavy artillery on October 27, 2016. As a result of this bombardment two local residents died and several other, among them a 6-year-old girl, were wounded. Damage was caused to some civilian facilities.